Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-09-16

ing Houscs-Dress Parade Hour-Pho-
toGraPhIng Stockings.
The place is simply the summer home
Of thousands upon thousands OF nice.
"homey' sort % girls. There isn't any
thing else here but girls-no carousnls, no
merry 90 rounds, no rifle galleries, no
roller coasters, 10 pony carts, no auto
matic weighing Machines no obseryGto-
ries, no FrHnk,urter sausage stands, no
catch penny chance gsmes-non, Of those
thousand and one devices that Rmuse the
summer lOiteTcT q: other resorts; nothing
but rir,s. And the Srls mus. have some
amusement besides bathing erd getting
dry again, 30 one Snd ell engage IN that
pleasing and irnOcuoES pcstime com
monty known as lirtiEg. The daughters
o. religious parents, themselves raised
within the pale OF tbs chu-eh, they throw
an air q devotion into the httlc 'dvances
they make, and tnc most insistcnt man
soon finds cut how perfectly innocent they
ire n all this. without Lr ov', thorGht
in the'r pretty herds, they do thing here
that they would never think Of doing Ut
home
Started rs n religious community, with
Ocean Grove sin the greo. home es that
American !nsttUtion-th9 camp meeting
--one-nait the residents come hcre be
cause they as interested in church work.
A sen devotional air pcTvsdes TIE place
and finds expression in q oe-ios OF rules
that stare out a. one from every bath
house door ard post along the beach.
Or Sundays the gates TO Ocean Grove
arc closed. Heavy bars shut ont al
vehicles from her streets. The iccnen,
tho butcher, the baker cnd the milkran
are not allowed within the grounds, end
newsQaverc are barred ont The board
walk runs sor two miles along the beach,
connecting the two towns Nnd chalk
marx sh)F~s the dividing line between
Ocean Grove and Asbury Park. Here
Sunday mornings the nevsboys gather on
the AsJury ya-k side toe tho marx and
sell papers C such ot the Ocean Grove
residents as care for that sort Of dissipa-
ton.
one thing Tint makes this q cheap place
20 live is the tents. You can hire q tent
for So n month and get board for G.
week. At the 500 boarding houses that
make Glad the place the average price il
not more than g a week. OF course
there is no such thing as privacy in = tent.
The flIp that serves as door has 10 be
left open or one will suTocate with heat
Tire little apcrturos cut in the canvas TINT
serve as windows are only so many pryinC
holes through which the curious can peep
il he feel SO inclined \ bright young girl
who lives in one ~ these tents, talking Of
this publicity, said that she used 20 be
taught chat the eye OF Providence was al
ways on her. bur now she knew that the
aye Of man always Was, and II made her
uncomfortable.
You have heard much talk Of the way
young ladies walk about the sScets and
stand about in public places IN bath eos
tune. and you have shrugged your shout
de-s and thought "Hov shamelcss" But
81 isn't. | assure you IL 81 not meant 10
be immolest, and II is the only thing the
bathers can do They live at sc boarding
houses and cannot afford to spend twenty
I've or fifty cents 1. dry For bath houses,
l. is a cheap end sensible thing 10 do 10
dress at home and walk down 10 the
bench. They must either 90 that or fore
% bathing. Since the talk began and the
newspapers took up the matter and de-
nOuncsd tie practice OF girls walking
through the streets clad Ike serio comic
singers, the dear creatures have taken 10
wearing rubber cloaks and co.samer.
Everybody knows how uncomfortable
IltfUtI flDNh ~ viii AAlt lltIilLIlCtEI
c0Quetting about the nine:ie- So the
cloaks are usually left unfast,ned and the
wind, Lifting an end here and there, makes
tham very little Of protection. Living
in the atmosphere Of such n summer re-
sort one loses much Of that fear OF pub
Lefty that marks the average American
home life The average bather viii step
from the ocean to the pump on the board
walk and Coolly wash ont her hair and
stockings before all the crowd; or glimpse
down bath house corridors shows her
putting on her shoes where every pGsser
by can see. Not that any immodcstJ is
done or intended. She simply gets sccus-
toned 10 doing these things in public, that
is all
Sunday evening from TO Q, 4, the
dress parade hour. The girls put on their
old party dresses that have done duty the
past winter and come down to the board
walk in all the glory Of decolletc cor-age
and evening costume The soft frou frou
Of silks take the place Of the rouchor
flannel that ha9 held the walk ail the
week and for the time the women forget
their sweethearts in their deeper interest
in one another's gowns But this I, only
Sunday evening. During the week men
wear flannel shirts to dinner and with
rare exception or two there is littls dress
ing at the hotels.
Every girl gets herself photographed AZ
least once In her bathing costume. The
photographer so arranges the pose that
black stockings shall show UP against
white background and vice versa. Some
Of the ruses employed 20 get good pictures
that way 90 credit to the ingenuity q the
girls. One photographer had nine differ
eut negatives OF the same young woman,
each photograph showing n different pose
and different pair Of stockings.
As the rules posted so conspicuously
suggest, most respectable people retire
from the beach at 10 clock or a little
later. Up to that time the little benches
scattered along the board walk, bigenough
for four, hold each two interested young
people. lie and she, be they never so
tired, will walk mile after mile, up and
down, looking for a seat. rather than dis
turb a couple who has already prc-cmpted
n seat. The two already there do not
take up much room; there is space and TO
spare for the wandering two; but 1t is an
unwrtten law, sacredly kept, that 10 the
first corners belong the exclusive right 10
their bench or course, under this sys-